Chocolate Strawberry No Bake Cheesecake Bites

Chocolate Strawberry No-Bake Cheesecake Bites! These single serving no-bake cheesecake bites are perfect for summer, plus they are gluten-free

I just had to bring the chocolate sauce back out. After making these Chocolate Cherry Milkshakes almost non-stop last week, I had an intense desire to drizzle chocolate sauce on just about everything. Strawberries? Check. Bananas? Check. Everything in the fridge? Discount Double Check.

These Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake bites are the perfect compromise when you are craving double triple chocolate dessert but also wanted to keep things fairly healthy.

These cheesecakes bites are completely dairy-free, gluten-free and naturally sweetened with dates and maple syrup. Swoon. Healthy dessert really can taste this good.

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Chocolate Strawberry No-bake Cheesecake Bites

These cheesecake bites start with my favorite crust base: nuts, dates and little chocolate powder. Thanks to the pureed dates, the crust gets just sticky enough to be pressed into muffin tins and forms the perfect base for the creamy, chocolate filling.

Once again, cashews + coconut pair together to form the ultimate dairy-free filling. Ironically, while cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, I find myself preferring a cheese-less filling more and more. This one is sweet but not overly sweet, rich but not over the top like some chocolate cheesecakes can be. It’s perfection.

I’ll go ahead and give the same disclaimer I do with every cashew-based thing I post: it doesn’t taste like cashews. Really. You’ve gotta try it to believe it. Just make sure to use raw cashews and not the roasted kind. I find that Trader Joe’s has the best prices on nuts and I always stock up when I’m there.

These chocolate strawberry cheesecake bites are the real deal. I love that they are portioned out so I can just grab one at the end of a meal and retire to my couch, chocolate cheesecake perfection in hand. Nothing like ending the night with a hunk of semi-frozen chocolate and berries.

Truth be told though, while I’m not complaining, they are a fairly large serving for an “individual” serving size. If you want a bite size treat, make these in a mini muffin pan instead. Personally, I tend to start with one in the afternoon and then finish the rest of it after dinner! I don’t mind these straight from frozen, but if you want them a little creamier then make sure to take them out of the freezer 5-10 minutes ahead of time.

Oh, and that chocolate sauce? It’s one of those optional but you should really do it suggestions.

Ingredients

1/2 cup pecans (can sub more almonds but I love the flavor of pecans in crust!)

pinch sea salt

1 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

Filling:

1.5 cups raw cashews, soaked in warm water for 2 hours, then drained)

1 large lemon, juiced

1.5 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp. coconut oil

1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (like the kind from a can)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup strawberries, finely chopped

Instructions

Add dates to food processor and process until a paste forms. Remove and set aside

Add the nuts and pinch of salt to the food processor and process until you get a fine crumb.

Add in the date paste and the chocolate powder and process until combined.It should be sticky enough that you can pinch a ball off and it will stick together.

Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. I didn’t line these but you can also add in muffin liners if you’d like.

Place 1 heaping tbsp. of crust in the bottom of the muffin tins and press down to fill.

Make the filling: Place the drained cashews, lemon juice, cocoa powder, coconut oil, coconut milk, and maple syrup to a high-powered blender (Like a [url:1]Vita-Mix[/url] or [url:2]Blend-Tec[/url]) Puree until creamy and smooth.

Depending on the power of your blender, this may take anywhere from 2-5 minutes.

Evenly pour the filling onto the crusts.

Top with a pinch of finely chopped strawberries and swirl with a toothpick or chopstick to combine.

Place in the freezer for 3-4 hours until hard.

To remove, lightly run a butter knife around the edge of the cheesecakes- they should pop out!

Did you make this recipe?

About Alex

Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, Plant-Based Chef and Yoga Instructor. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Her blog, Delish Knowledge, focuses on making whole-food eating deliciously simple. She lives in St. Louis, MO with her husband, running buddy and taste-tester BL.

If you are interested in personal nutrition coaching, please visit her services page.

I’m sorry to be a little blunt, but here it is: The filling is AMAZING! But the whole thing took me nearly 2 hours, I’m not sure how anyone could make that happen in 15! Also the base is VERY date-y I would definitely recommend putting more cocoa powder in and maybe something else to make it more neutral. Also finding the recipe for the ice-magic sauce was very difficult! so overall, I would make the filling again, but probably modify other things 🙂